[srtdodge05]

Or people who have to travel off-road, like farmers and ranchers, who have money and want comfort. It's not as rare as class as you seem to think it is.

I know some people require having some kind of off-road capability. But making every SUV and Truck having a off-road model to please less then 10% of drivers and then give bad reviews to a vehicle because it doesn't have a true off-road package.

 

[movaldes]

Always nice to hear from an owner.

We've been here since the beginning. It's just that all the negative posts drown out the reality of owning one.
It is a very capable vehicle.
Yes, as most have stated and @Erik Latranyi pointed out, it should NOT have been a Jeep.
It could've been a Chrysler or it could've been a Durango replacement or a Ram full-size SUV. But it's here and I love mine.

 

[movaldes]

Yeah, I think they should have an off road trim. Look at it this way, in the past, a similar vehicle would have been badged a chrysler. Going back 15 years, each top trim jeep could get through the rubicon. They make road suvs now. How far can the wagoneer s get on the rubicon. A youtube personality may try. Not far is the answer. The first rock maybe.( I do like the looks of the s, but its nice for a road staying crossover)

As far as branding, they tried to take the equity in the Jeep brand and somewhere someone said the models are move valuable and can sell at higher msrp badged as Jeep vs. dodge or Chrysler. Those models under that experiment are working through the system and now I think Jeep might backpedal that a little. Its damaged Jeep and now dodge and chrysler are starving for product.

I thought Ram was another high margin seller. They could've easily made it a Ram (Adventurer? Since Ramcharger was already in the works).

 

[Dave Z]

I know some people require having some kind of off-road capability. But making every SUV and Truck having a off-road model to please less then 10% of drivers and then give bad reviews to a vehicle because it doesn't have a true off-road package.

I agree generally, but... only if we're talking about Dodge or Ram. Jeep is supposed to be off-road, period.
To me it's like the stripped-down “really a Plymouth” Chrysler Town & Country Touring I used to have. Fine vehicle, but not with that badge.

 

[suzq044]

I don't think it was ever intended to be a true off-road vehicle in the sense of Wrangler. It was one of the many things that was thrown at the Jeep lineup to add profit using an old name. Could they have 100% tossed it at the Ram lineup and called it a TRX Trailduster? Yes. Could they have tossed it on the Chrysler side of the fence and called it a Concorde for all its luxury? Yes.

The thing is, the target market was the 100,000$ buyer, who mostly wants a soccer-mom mobile that avoids 'minivan' status. These trucks are not driven off-road. Neither are your Tahoe's and Suburbans. They're just meant to look like they can if they really wanted to.

The reviewers have to take them off-road to see what they can do, because it's a Jeep, and it's by-default off-road capable. The fact that Jeep is by-default off-road to most journalists should have told the brand-management something.

That this thing shouldn't have been a Jeep. I love the Wagoneer name as much as the next SJ owner but it should've been off-road first, and much more visibly like the SJ's they'd been using in concepts since before it's introduction, and just as capable. That was what made the Wagoneer popular. It was capable, and has timeless design. Neither of which the current Wagoneer line has.

It could've been a beautiful Chrysler though. Imagine. Give it the name Concorde, and see it fly (off lots) lol. It's a great truck, just not a great Jeep. Much like the Wagoneer S. lol - They need to be giving these vehicles real off-road capability in at least one trim level, otherwise they'll be laughed at for being called Jeeps.

 

[serpens]

I can scarcely believe people are defending the lack of off road package on the Wagoneer. Such a package is pure profit. GM has them available, Nissan does on the Armada, Toyota has one for the Sequoia, Ford has one for the Expedition. Why would the off road brand not have one available on its flagship product?

 

[aldo90731]

It's really a no brainer and very inexpensive to make a Wagoneer off road model using Ram parts. They're just lazy.

Sadly, I believe it goes deeper than that.

The people who call the shots in Paris, Turin, view Jeep as a very different brand than we do here in its home market.

 

[aldo90731]

Who ever wants to take a $70,000+ vehicle off-road is dumb. No need to make a Wagoneer a off-road vehicle.

How about a $70,000 Wrangler Rubicon? A $80,000 Power Wagon? A $100,000 Raptor? A $120,000 Range Rover...?

 

[aldo90731]

Why doesn’t the Jeep have something equivalent to the Z71? That’s the point.

^^^ this!

This is the whole point of this thread.

 

[David S]

How about a $70,000 Wrangler Rubicon? A $80,000 Power Wagon? A $100,000 Raptor? A $120,000 Range Rover...?

Most people don't take them off road either, but they sell.

 

[aldo90731]

Most people don't take them off road either.

So what are you saying? Wrangler, Power Wagon, Raptor don't need to be able to go off-road either?

 

[David S]

So what are you saying? Wrangler, Power Wagon, Raptor don't need to be able to go off-road either?

Most people buy expensive off road vehicles to be seen on road. They need the capability to sell.

 

[aldo90731]

Most people buy expensive off road vehicles to be seen on road. They need the capability to sell.

Okay. So we are agreeing that the capability has to be there, then. Whether the owner decides to use it or not is a separate conversation.

 

[Dave Z]

The company that makes the Rebel and Power Wagon wasn't able to toughen the Wagoneer, is what I'm hearing.

That could be true by now. They've ejected an awful lot of employees using means like “here's some money, go work for Ford" and "we know we promised you could work from home but we didn't mean it."

That's on top of Sergio's refusing to rehire most of the more-experienced employees, including our own Bob Sheaves, some years back. As he said, it takes two or three projects to gain experience to stop making basic mistakes like the Cherokee PTU-based AWD system, or [anything using Fiat parts in the Dart].

It seems to be Chrysler's way to make the same mistakes over and over and over and over.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

That's fine. But you quoted an article where a Wagoneer was being compared to a Z71 Tahoe.
Again, c'mon!!!

We can dispute that no off-road pkg is being offered by Jeep. But then, do NOT compare a Wagoneer to another vehicle, any vehicle, fitted with an off-road pkg.

A Jeep should be superior in base form to a Tahoe with Z71 package.

 

[Erik Latranyi]

It is NONE

Who ever wants to take a $70,000+ vehicle off-road is dumb. No need to make a Wagoneer a off-road vehicle.

That is NONE of your business.

People can spend their money any way they like.

You are not king determining what people NEED.

As others schooled you, nearly every other vehicle in this class offers an off-road trim except the brand that is known as the off-road brand.....and despite having the parts in their parts bin to make it happen.

 

[suzq044]

The company that makes the Rebel and Power Wagon wasn't able to toughen the Wagoneer, is what I'm hearing.

Nah; They made the RHO and the TRX. Imagine a Wagoneer that could do what those trucks can do? That's why I think it would've been an awesome RHO/TRX Trailduster. With the right components of course. lol

 

[Dave Z]

Nah; They made the RHO and the TRX. Imagine a Wagoneer that could do what those trucks can do? That's why I think it would've been an awesome RHO/TRX Trailduster. With the right components of course. lol

Good point.
It is pretty insane they refuse to do the most minimum of packages.

 

[keitho]

Have to remember the wagoneer was going to be its own brand even if a sub to jeep

 

[Dave Z]

Have to remember the wagoneer was going to be its own brand even if a sub to jeep

... a plan which while copied from Range Rover, arguably made no sense at all.